Question
change to a yellow color then fall off before blooming just after 3-4 days of me bringing them home from the store?  It seems like every time I puchase orchids (PHALAENOPSIS) within 3-4 days I notice the flower bulbs change from a healthy green to a wrinkled yellow, then They start falling off one-by-one leaving only the one's that have already flowered on the plant.  For example, on Thursday of last week, I purchased a healthy Orchid Phalaenopsis, put in on my coffe table and today Monday the Buds are yellowing and I know it's just a matter of another day or two they will begin to fall off.  You expert advice will be greatly appreicated.

Thank you,

  Eric  

Answer
Eric,

I'm sorry to hear about your problem with phalaenopsis orchids.  Not quite sure why it is happening but I'm wondering if you might have some fruits near them.  You mention placing the phal. on the coffee table, are there fruits on it also or within a few feet?  Ripening fruit emit a gas as they ripen, it can be fatal to orchid flowers.  It there are fruit nearby, try moving them to another room or at least more than 10 feet away.  

If not, there are some other possibilities.  Do you have a portable gas or kerosene heater in the room?  Any unburnt gases (most portable heaters are less than 80% efficient, and those gases may be the culprit.  Does the temperature of the room vary more than 20 degrees fairly quickly, such as when you leave and return from work?  You didn't mention where you live but did mention bringing them home.  If you live in a cold winter area, moving it from a warm store into the cold outside, then into your warm car and back out into the cold to bring it indoors where it is warm; all of that moving from warm and cold will shock your phal and cause it to die prematurely.  

There are a few more possibilities but the ones above are the more common reasons for bud and flower dying early.  

I hope this helps.  

Jim Kawasaki
San Jose, Ca.